41.27 per cent electorate cast their vote in U'khand till 1 pm

A voter turnout of 41.27 per cent has been recorded in Uttarakhand till 1 pm where polling is being held in all its five Lok Sabha seats in the first of the seven-phase general elections.

The fate of 52 candidates will be decided by over 78 lakh voters of the state, where all the five seats -- Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar, Almora and Nainital -- are being held by the BJP.

Polling began at 7 am and there was 41.27 per cent polling in Uttarakhand by 1 pm, Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya said, adding Tehri recorded 40.60 per cent polling, Pauri 38.51 per cent, Almora 36.70 per cent, Nainital 48.02 per cent and Haridwar 48.67 per cent.

The saffron party is locked in straight contests with the Congress on all seats.

High-profile candidates in the fray are ex-chief minister Harish Rawat who takes on state BJP chief Ajay Bhatt in Nainital, ex-CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who faces Congress's Ambrish Kumar in Haridwar, BJP national secretary Tirath Singh Rawat is up against B C Khanduri's son Manish in Pauri and sitting MPs Ajay Tamta (Lok Sabha) and Pradeep Tamta (Rajya Sabha) in Almora.